English Sherlock Holmes

[Rob Hindman]

I like the 1947-48 John Stanley and Alfred Shirley version of Holmes
as well as all of the others but I must admitt that perfer The BBC
version of Holmes starring John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. Anyone
else have a favorite?

[Ponset]

My favorite Holmes and Watson are Rathbone and Bruce. Probably because the first time I seen and heard Holmes they were the actors.

I also like Tom Conway and Nigle Bruce.

[Rob Hindman]

Good choices as well. Please excuse my abysmal typing! I haven't
heard a lot of the Basil Rathbone episodes but I will check them
out as soon as I can.

[Lawrence Albert]

My own favorite are the shows with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. They are, to my mind, the best adaptations ever done of Sir Arthur's works. The portrayals have engery and spark. I'm afraid I find the Giegud/Richarson a bit stodgy, and as with many of the Holmes series the actors sound far to old for the roles. I ask listeners to remember that Holmes and Watson were in their 30's and 40's for most of their careers as a crime investigation duo.
The John Stanley programs have a nastiness to them in the relationship between Holmes and Watson that I find totally inappropriate and not at all in keeping with the canon. Watson comes off as a jealous and petulant boor in the episodes I've heard of this series.

[Bobby P]

You can't beat Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, although Nigel Bruce was cast as a bit of a dimwit compared with the very intelligent Dr. Watson as written by Arthur Conan Doyle.

[Scott T]

I agree with the Rathbone-Bruce series. Well done.
Although like Bobby P said Watson is abit of a dimwit.
But there was real warmth between the two actors and their characters.

Also liked the Conway-Bruce combo. Wish this series had lasted longer.

[Rob]

The production on a lot of the BBC versions is muddy and the
sound effects are obviously taken from records. I wonder why
the decision was made to make Watson such a dim bulb...Maybe
it does help somewhat in Radio beacuse Holmes has to explain
every clue to Dr. Watson.

[Rob]

The production on a lot of the BBC versions is muddy and the
sound effects are obviously taken from records. I wonder why
the decision was made to make Watson such a dim bulb...Maybe
it does help somewhat in Radio beacuse Holmes has to explain
every clue to Dr. Watson.

[Bob S.]

I also enjoy John Guilguld and Sir Ralph Richardson. I like the violin music and hoof beats in the beginning of each episode.

[Anthony Tollin]

Bill Nadel (of the Baker Street Irregulars) and I recently helped assemble Radio Spirits' new ULTIMATE SHERLOCK HOLMES collection, and also co-authored the companion historical booklet. Bill and I both felt that the best of the American Sherlock Holmes was Tom Conway, whose voice was very similar to Rathbones but whose previous experience as a BBC radio actor resulted in better microphone technique. However, we both agreed that the best of the Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson teams was the long-running BBC pairing of Carlton Hobbs and Norman Shelley.

BTW. Radio Spirits' ULTIMATE SHERLOCK HOLMES 20-hour collection features Orson Welles' MERCURY THEATRE adaptation of the William Gillette play, Basil Rathbone, Tom Conway and Nigel Bruce, Ben Wright, John Stanley, Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson, and the Carlton Hobbs/Norman Shelley team. Of special interest, Radio Spirits's engineers restored the Gielgud/Richardson to their initial NBC running times. The previous commercial releases were heavily edited, usually off the Charlie Michelson syndication recordings. In fact, GAA's release of "The Final Problem" was missing seven minutes of material, mostly from Orson Welles' scenes as Moriarty.

[Rob Hindman]

Wow! I'll have to check that out. What a horroble thing to do to the programs to stick more commercials in!

[tilleygareth]

Hi Anthony

I see that the box set has no shows that were not already in circulation. I wasn't sure of the source of the shows from the previous box sets from Radio Sprits - I presume that they have no more "new" shows from the 47-49 era?

Dispite that lack of new shows it does look like a nice collection - I'll cetianly be interested to hear how the shows sound!

Gareth

[telegonus]

I also enjoy John Guilguld and Sir Ralph Richardson. I like the violin music and hoof beats in the beginning of each episode.

These are my favorites, from a purist perspective (though,-- who knows? -- there may be "purer" ones for all I know). From an entertainment angle, Rathbone and Bruce cannot be beaten. Even with the commercials, the ambiance more Hollywood than British; none of this matters. The wonderful Rathbone-Bruce rapport is one for the ages.